Women of Science Returns to Bedford High School on December 19

Standing: Laura Wei, Caroline Ngooi, Deborah Weidman, Savannah En Sitting: Liana Heldman, Michelle Gong, Mykia Washington — Standing (l-r): Laura Wei, Caroline Ngooi, Deborah Weidman, and Savannah En
Seated (l-r): Faculty advisor Liana Heldman, Michelle Gong, and Mykia Washington Image (c) JMcCT, 2015, all rights reserved

By Julie McCay Turner

Nine young women will represent Bedford in the 13th annual Women of Science competition on Saturday, December 19 at Bedford High School. There will be a team from the Class of 2016 and a pair of teams from the Class of 2017.

Some of the young women who are planning to participate used the words “collaborative,” “informative,” “experimentation,” “groundbreaking,” “enthralling,” and “limitless, with wide horizons” in describing their experience of the science programs in Bedford schools. Evincing interest in science majors when they get to college, the young women spoke of the Women of Science program as supporting their aims.

Michelle Gong’s middle school paper on associative identity disorder piqued her ongoing curiosity in science. Deborah Weidman described science classes as hands-on and collaborative from elementary school forward, supporting students who work in teams and learn to think differently. Mykia Washington noted a long-standing interest in questioning ideas.

According to Liana Heldman, a faculty advisor with Science Program Director Michael Griffin, “The idea of creating a competition for female students only is guided by the interest to have more women enter science related fields. We are hoping the day will celebrate women in science and spawn interest in science related fields. In addition to the competition, we are inviting a variety of professionals in the science and technology fields to have lunch with the participants to discuss the many opportunities that there are for women.”

Along with Bedford’s teams and a team from the Delaware Valley School District in Pennsylvania, students from Andover, Arlington Catholic, Belmont, Boston Latin, Braintree, Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Chelmsford, Haverhill, Lincoln Sudbury, Malden, Newton North, Newton South, North Reading, Quincy, Seekonk, Tri-County Regional Vocational, Watertown, Wellesley, Westford, Weston, and Westwood will participate.

The 2015 Women of Science competition is sponsored by the Bedford School Department, EMD Millipore and Thermo Fisher Scientific with support from UMass Lowell and the Bedford Education Foundation.

To learn more about Women of Science, visit the program’s website https://sites.google.com/a/bedford.k12.ma.us/women-of-science/